Missing
by Uniasus
Summary: All Barricade wanted to know was if human females could scream louder than males.


**Disclaimer: **Transformers belong to Hasbro, not myself. Though I did get an Optimus Prime helmet that changes my voice into Peter Cullen's for my 21st birthday XD

* * *

**Missing**

_By Uniasus_

The first half of the week after Mission City was spent lounging around Sam's house. They were both covered in bruises, with Sam suffering from mild head trauma and a couple broken ribs as well. He did not take pleasure in moving, so usually Mikaela sat with him on the couch and they caught up on all the movies they wanted to see and had not gotten around to yet.

"Mmm," she said, stretching her arms above her head as the credits for _Terminator _scrolled on the tv screen. "My aunt should be here soon. It's eleven and unlike you I'm going to school tomorrow."

Sam chuckled. "Only for half the day I thought. Do you really want to go to second hour gym? I know you're still sore."

She wrinkled her nose. "So I'll skip the first two hours, you're a bigger hooky than me."

"Hey, I would love to go to school! I'm getting tired of seeing the same four walls everyday. I'ld even be willing to go with Mom to the grocery store, but she won't let me." Sam gingerly crossed his arms with a huff, but a small wince of pain still flicked across his face.

"Right, you wouldn't even be able to carry your books to your first two classes, let alone make it upstairs between each one up to your locker."

"Could too!"

Her phone vibrated and Mikaela read the text message that popped up.

"Alright tough guy, walk me to the door." She jumped off the couch and stood looking over him, hands on her hips.

Slowly, Sam used his hands to push himself off the couch until he stood next to her, displaying a 'told you so grin'. She just gave that tilt of her head that said 'yeah, so?'.

With a humph he headed toward the back door, albeit stiffly. Mikaela was actually surprised he moved as quickly and normally as he did, the rigid nature of his shoulders the only sign of discomfort. Sam reached the door first and held it open for her from the outside, complete with hand flourish. She laughed, giving him a small peck on the check as she stepped out the front door.

"Right, how do you feel solider boy?"

"Not much different than sitting on the couch, I can even walk you to the street."

She smiled and started toward the street, Sam in tow.

"But you're right," he stated as they came abreast of his mailbox, "Don't think I could last a full day in school. At least till Monday."

"Told ya so."

Sam stuck his tongue out at her and she laughed. He was such a child!

"I'll come by Friday after school. Bumblebee should be fixed by then right?"

"I think that's what Ratchet said. Most of Bumblebee's legs were still intact under that car so repairs weren't expected to be too long." Sam shrugged.

A car rounded the corner, Mikaela's aunt Kennie. She may have been alright for school the next day, but riding her Vespa took a little more skill. Not that she had it anymore. It had been left at the junkyard when she and Sam got into that car chase with Barricade and someone took off with it, helmet and all.

"Right. Till Friday then," Mikaela walked around the 1998 Focus and opened the passenger door. "See you around Sam."

"Yep, you too."

She slid into the car and her aunt drove off, throwing knowing looks at her the entire time. Her father's younger sister much preferred Sam to Trent.

~*~

"Oh! Hey Mikaela! If you're looking for Sam, he's not here."

Mikeala paused in walking into the yard to stare at Mrs. Witwicky working in the garden. "What? He's not here? How does that work?"

"Beats me. He wasn't here when I got home from work about a half hour ago. Wasn't his," she swung her trowel around, "car due back today?"

"Yeah, but…I guess they took off on their own then huh?" Mikaela asked, feeling a bit put out. She figured the three of them could hang out together in the garage or something similar, knowing Sam would not be up for moving around too much.

"I guess there's no helping it," she said turning around to head back towards the school.. "Can you have Sam call me when he gets back Mrs. Witwicky?"

"You sure you don't want to hang around until they get back?"

"Nah, who knows how long that'll be and I have all this make up work to take care of."

"All right, I'll tell him to call when he gets home. Are you planning on walking? Just give me a minute and I'll drive you home, you don't exactly live down the street."

"Thanks Mrs. Witwicky."

When Mikaela settled into her bed that night, without a word from Sam, she was a little pissed. Bumblebee probably took off with him for the weekend and they left her behind. Typical guys. Sam owed her a strawberry milkshake.

~*~

Monday found Mikaela feeling good enough to participate in gym. Her bruises were just discolorations by now and did not hamper her ability to run for ten minutes and play a game of tennis. She caught a couple of girls staring at the bands of sickly yellow that encircled her thorax, but no one asked any questions. No matter who asked, Mikaela did not say anything about why she had been out for week other than she had been helping friends.

She did not know if it was her silence or something else that caused her friends to avoid her. Well not really, they still said hi in the hallways and engaged in small talk and the local school gossip in classes but that was it. It was as if they had all just become close acquaintances as opposed to friends. She had been invited to a party Friday night and turned it down without remorse. They did not seem to know how to deal with that.

Trent had been under the impression they were still a couple, calling her Bunny all day and making sure they sat next to each other in classes. So Mikaela had made that clear during lunch that they were not. Knowing Sam's best friend was Miles, she went to sit across the table from him.

"Hi, I'm Mikaela Banes. Since I'm Sam's girlfriend I figured I should get to know you."

The blonde had simply opened his mouth and stared. Trent had not been please. In fact he had grabbed her upper arm and forced her to her feet. "What do you mean, you're that lameo's girlfriend. You're my little Bunny!"

"No Trent. I never was. We're over. Now let go of me." And there it was again; that maybe-something-else that made her friends keep their distance had him following her instructions. She watched him walk back to his table and then sat back down to find the long haired blonde giving her a calculating look. She had not even been aware that Miles could produce such a look.

"Guess you're not just a jock concubine then."

She nearly choked on her sandwich. "What?"

"Nothing! Didn't say anything! So, how did you and Sam happen? And do you know where he is?"

"He should be back Monday." She did not supply anything else, figuring it would be best to leave that to Sam. Miles narrowed his eyes at her, only to surprisingly let it go. "So, you like cars?"

She grinned a grin the Cheshire Cat would be envious of, she and Miles would get along just fine.

But when Monday came around, Sam was not in class. On her first day back she had been surprised to realize they had four classes in common. She had never noticed before. And now, when he was supposed to be here she was painfully aware of it. Where was he? Bumblebee and him were probably still hanging out and Mikaela could not help but feel the sting of jealously. Did she not help the Camaro take down that one Decepticon? They had both known the Cybertronian for practically the same amount of time. Sam owed her two milkshakes now.

She amended that to a week's worth after lunch, Miles had remembered her saying on Wednesday that Sam should be back from where ever he was on Monday and it grated on her to not answer his questions. Miles was Sam's best friend, he deserved to know things but she still did not know what was all right to divulge and what was not. From Sam's point of view or the government's.

She was very happy to hear the bell ring at the end of the day, determined to walk over to the Witwicky's and demand the first of her milkshakes. She headed down the hallway wondering if she wanted one from Burger King, McDonalds, or hand made by Sam himself just to see him flounder.

A grin erupted on Mikaela's face as she caught sight of the shiny yellow Camaro sitting in the school parking lot while exiting the building. It was good to see Bumblebee doing all right. It seemed he felt the same way judging by the way his lights flashed at her while approached.

She paused a foot in front of his hood, not sure where to look. From what she remembered of him transforming she was pretty such his head ended up somewhere near the engine.

"Hey, there. You doing alright?"

The sport car gave a soft chirp before opening the passenger door. Quickly she walked around Bumblebee's front and slid in, ignoring the looks she and Bumblebee were attracting. The door closed behind her with a soft click.

"You two better have something to say about leaving me out of your weekend plans…hey, where's Sam?"

The radio flicked through a few static stations before Bumblebee's voice filtered through the speakers. Mikaela jumped at the noise, not expecting it to be so loud.

"What ever do you mean Mikaela? Sam is in school, is he not? He was supposed to return today."

"You mean you guys didn't spend the weekend together?" Mikaela asked with growing horror.

A few clicks and clacks. "No, my repairs were delayed a little and Ratchet kept me for observations."

"But that means –" Mikaela found herself cut short by the seatbelt that snapped across her chest as Bumblebee shot backwards and spun around in a one eighty before tacking off down the street.

"When was the last time you saw him Mikaela?"

"Wednesday night, but I'm pretty sure his parents saw him Friday morning." She gripped the side of the door and the bottom of her seat as the Chevy took a corner faster then need be, not minding the red light he blew and the horn honks that followed.

"Slow down! I'ld prefer to not get any more bruises. I'm almost healed."

The car slowed to the speed limit almost immediately and seemed to sink lower to the ground, giving Mikaela the impression of a child bowing its head after being scolded by a parent.

"I mean, I just don't see how going fast to going to help us here, Bee. I can call you Bee, right? Bumblebee's kinda long."

"Bee is fine. And I'm sorry if I hurt you. Its just that – Sam's been missing for four days then."

"Including today, yeah. Where are we going? We should tell the police."

There was no answer for awhile and then the speakers sparked to life. "I told Prime Sam's missing. You're welcome to let the local law enforcement know but I doubt they can do anything at this point. As for our destination, the Witwicky residence. I hope to find something their that can help us find Sam."

They drove in silence until they got there and Bee opened the door for her. "Talk to his parents. I'm going to do some scans."

Mikaela nodded and made her way around the house to the backdoor.

"Hello! Anyone home?" she called through the screen door, "Hello?"

There was the sound of a door opening upstairs and her heard Mrs. Witwicky call down. "Just give me a minute Mikaela, make yourself comfortable."

She let herself in and took a seat at the kitchen table, jiggling her knee impatiently. Gravel crunched outside under Bee's tires as he slowly made his way up the driveway. Mikaela really hoped he found something. She stared out the window waiting for him to appear when the sound of someone coming down the stairs startled him.

"Hey Mikaela! Sam's still on that trip with that car alien of his, but do you want to stay for dinner?" Mrs. Witwicky came into the kitchen, hair wet and in a fuzzy bathrobe fresh from the shower.

"Actually…why don't you pull up a seat Mrs. Witwicky?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"Sam wasn't with Bumblebee this weekend."

Mrs. Witwicky paused on her way to the fridge. "That's the car's name, right?"

Mikaela nodded.

"So if he wasn't with the car, and he wasn't with you or Miles…"

Mikaela watched the growing horror and shock spread itself across Mrs. Witwicky's face. Quickly she stood up and made her way over to the women's side in case her knees gave out and helped her to a chair.

"Please, Mrs. Witwicky, when was the last time you saw him?"

"Friday morning. He wasn't here when I got back from work."

"Did you see anything odd around the house?"

The older woman looked down at her lap before shaking her head no.

"Dammit! He couldn't have left on his own in his condition." A small blip noise directed Mikaela's attention outside to see Bumblebee had finished his scans.

"Come on, Mrs. Witwicky. Let's see if Bee found anything."

They walked outside, but Mikaela guessed from the way the Camaro was so low to the ground he actually touched it with the bottom of his front doors that nothing showed up.

"Do you know where Sam is?" Mrs. Witwicky demanded of the car in the driveway, heedless of causing talk about crazy next-door neighbors who yell at their cars in bathrobes.

A shrill whine came from the engine and Mikaela answered for Bee. "No, he doesn't."

"Aren't you supposed to be his guarding or something?!" the mother advanced towards the car, radiating anger. "I thought you were supposed to watch over him! And now he's gone, has been for four day!"

Mrs. Witwicky kicked Bumblebee's front right tire. The Autobot let out a similar whine to before, reminding Mikaela of the noise a toy car made when its wheels were spinning in the air.

"How can you let this happen?!"

"Mrs. Witwicky, it's not Bee's fault!" Mikaela marched up to the woman and took a hold of her hands. There were tears running down the woman's face. "I know you're upset, and scared for Sam. I am too, and so's Bee. But it's not his fault! He's the best help we could get finding Sam."

"It's just…" the other woman swallowed before continuing, "He's already injured. What if he gets hurt again? I know he wouldn't leave the house by himself, so someone must have taken him, but who would do that?! All those evil cars are gone."

Mikaela thought she saw Bumblebee flinch, but Mrs. Witwicky did not seem to notice. "He's a good kid Mikaela, you know that. Oh God I'm gonna break the arm of who ever took him and if he did anything to my Sammy I'll kill him!"

"Don't worry. I'll find him Mrs. Witwicky."

The mentioned woman jumped at hearing the Camaro speak, but then seemed to sag into Mikaela's arms.

"Come on Mrs. Witwicky, let's get you inside."

Mikaela helped Sam's mom into the house, got her settled and watched her call her husband to ask him to call home. Fifteen minutes later she was out the back door and in Bee's driver seat. Once she buckled herself in they made their way down the driveway.

"I contacted the others, we will all be looking for Sam. He should not be very far from here."

"The Decepticons aren't all dead, are they?" Mikaela asked in accusatory tone.

Bumblebee was silent for a few moments before answering and she could already tell she would not like the answer.

"There are some who are…unaccounted for. We assumed their bodies have yet to be found or they are hiding. Their numbers are too small for them to do anything."

"They? There's more than one left Bee?!" She threw her hands up in the air. "You should have told us! Maybe one of them took Sam for revenge!"

The car around her sputtered. "I doubt it Mikaela. We believe Starscream left your planet and Scorponok is somewhere in the Middle East. Barricade should be too damaged to do much and is too much of a survivalist to announce his presence."

"That's the cop, right? You weren't here for an entire week Bee, not that that's your fault, but that gave him plenty of time to do something without you guys knowing something."

"I know," Bee's voiced was saddened and guilt ridden. Mikaela figured Bee did not need her to point such things out to him, he had most likely already thought of it.

She sighed. "Just take me home Bee."

The Autobot took the next corner and did as she asked. "I'll keep in touch," he told her before she opened the door.

"Me too."

Her aunt knew something was wrong the minute she walked in the door. "What's wrong Kay?"

"Sam's missing." She brushed by quickly on her way to her room, not looking up into Kennie's face. Dropping her backpack one the floor by the door she collapsed face first in her pillows and started crying, images of what could be happening to Sam floating through her mind. They followed her into her dreams.

~*~

Two weeks had passed with nothing. Sam was still missing and there was nothing to point to where he was, why he was taken, or by whom. Bumblebee was staying with at her house, watching over her. Mikaela had believed at first that it was Barricade who had taken her boyfriend, but it was odd he had not bragged about it to the Autobots. Most Decepticons would have rubbed it in the other fraction's face that they killed one of them. But no message came. Barricade had not shown up either, even with the Ironhide on the hunt. He was either very good at hiding or had been destroyed and his body was rusting somewhere.

Optimus Prime was giving the Decepticon the benefit of the doubt; there was no evidence pointing towards the fact that Barricade had taken Sam and until that was proved otherwise no one was allowed to open fire on the Saleen. Bumblebee on the whole believed in Prime, but he also thought it was the most likely explanation. Mikaela only halfway agreed, she did not want to blame the cop simply from a lack of other theories. On the other hand, she was very grateful Bee was now always near by.

School had been rough. By Wednesday Sam's status as missing was in the papers and on the local news. Mikaela and Miles had not talked much for a few days after that, and even now when ever they hung out there was always that taunt undercurrent of a thought. _Sam should be here. Where is he? Is he okay?_

Sam's disappearance had somehow started open season on Mikaela. Trent tried almost everyday to talk to her in class and other boys always made advances in the hallways. She said no to all of them, again to Miles's surprise, and found safety in the lunch breaks she shared with relaxed gamer. He actually helped with some of the more aggressive guys and no one approached her with awful pick-up lines in the thirty minutes of bliss lunch afforded her.

She had caved and told Miles about what really happened, about why she and Sam missed a week of school. He had taken the whole alien robot thing in stride and found it fascinating, wanted to meet them. Mikaela told him he could not. They were in a secret military base and she had no idea where they were. It just seemed wrong to tell him about Bumblebee, he belonged to her and Sam. Not that they really owned the Camaro, but Mikaela really did not feel up to sharing.

Which was why she was walking to Sam's house. The kid was lucky and only lived two blocks from the high school, so Bumblebee took to waiting for her there while she was at school when not doing day missions for the Autobots. It prevented awkward questions in the schoolyard about a sweet ride she did not have the money to pay for. It also entailed she got to interact with the Witwickys, keep them updated with the little information that the Autobots found. Mrs. Wikwicky was also kind enough to help her with her biology homework. Even though she only worked part time selling jewelry in a store she had started with a partner, she had minored in biology. No wonder the garden always looked so nice.

Seeing the flag up, Mikaela grabbed the mail from the mailbox for the couple before walking around the side of the house. Bumblebee chirped a greeting at her, causing the matron of the household to look up from the gardening magazine spread out on the car's hood.

"Hey Mikaela. How was school?"

"Ug. We did weights in gym today and my arms are going to be really sore tomorrow." She rolled a shoulder. "Oh here's your mail."

"Thanks dear," Mrs. Witwicky said, taking the paper pile from Mikaela. She went straight for the small package, placing the rest on top of Bee's hood.

"Huh, I don't know anyone in Mexico. I wonder-" she paused, her eyes growing wider.

"Mrs. Witwicky?" Bumblebee asked, concern evident in his voice.

The woman shook her head. "Sorry, it's just, it's addressed to Sam. I didn't know he knew people in Mexico."

Mikaela shrugged when Mrs. Witwicky looked at her, neither did she. With a shrug of her own, the older woman opened the envelope and tipped it so a well-used brown wallet fell into her hand. Handing the packaging over to Mikaela she opened it and her hands started to tremble.

"It's Sam's wallet," she whispered.

Mikaela stared and she got the distinct impression Bumblebee had turned his head too, even though she could not understand how.

Mrs. Witwicky handed the wallet to Mikaela before turning around and collapsing against the hood of the car behind her. Bee released one of those whining noises.

Mikaela looked at the wallet in her hand. On the left side was a clear slot through which his driver's license was visible. It was a very bad picture, it did not even look like he was completely facing the camera. His school id was there, as well as the various punch and deal cards from local stores. Mikaela opened the money pouch, not expecting to find anything. But there was a folded up piece of paper inside.

"There's a note."

Mrs. Witwicky looked up at her and Bee shifted his front tires left and right, anxious to hear what it said.

"I found this while hiking near the Chihuahuan Desert. Figured you might want it back."

No one spoke for a full minute before Bee rumbled his engines softly. "What's the return address? I can tell Ironhide to check it out."

"A city called Chihuahua."

"Mexico," Mrs. Witwicky muttered under breath. "Why would they take him to Mexico?"

Mikaela could think of many issues crossing a border would solve, but she did not say anything. Instead she sat next to the grieving woman on Bee's hood while the Autobot hummed underneath them in a comforting manner.

~*~

A month after his disappearance and still no word on where Sam was. Ironhide had checked out the area in Mexico with Captain Lennox, but no one had recalled seeing anyone who looked like Sam. And since the person who had sent Sam's wallet back to the States was unidentified they could not ask him or her any questions.

The local police believed he was most likely dead. Most kidnapped people who were not recovered in the matter of a couple of days usually ended up that way. If he was alive he would have tired to get a message to them, or there would have been a ransom demand. There had been neither.

The Witwickys, Mikaela, and Bumblebee repudiated the idea. Sam was a fighter, he had taken down Megatron! He was just trapped and unable to contact them at the moment. The others avoided the subject. Even Miles seemed to think the worse. The happy-go-lucky surfer wannabe was relying on Mikaela to be the positive one when thoughts of Sam invaded the time they spent together.

School was out by now. Most of her classmates were out looking at colleges, making final choices on where to apply come Fall. Mikaela knew that really her only option was the local community colleges so she did not bother visiting. She would be living at home anyway.

She had no idea what she wanted to study; all she knew was that she wanted to still interact with the Autobots. Maybe she join the military, have them pay for an education of something she could find useful. Some type of engineering.

As it was, she was spending the summer as Ratchet's student, learning about the mechanics of Cybertronians. She had no idea what use it would be to the Autobots, they had Ratchet after all so why would they come to see her? But it kept her busy and not thinking of Sam so she delved into the work.

Mikaela and Bumblebee were walking along the road that led from the base the Autobots were staying at to the highway. It was not well used, it's purpose was essentially only to get to the previously abandoned military base. Sure, the road extended past the base, but no one had used for five years, up till a month ago. And even then it served as a racetrack for mechs wanting to burn off some energy. After long periods of not moving around while studying with Ratchet Mikaela liked to walk part of the road. They were so out in the middle of nowhere that for the first mile Bee could actually walk next her. It was kinda cute watching him take baby steps.

There was a large outcropping of rock up ahead, great big boulders stacked on top of each other until the pile was almost as tall as Bumblebee. There was a cave in the base of the formation that was fairly large. It was Ironhide's favorite hiding spot when Ratchet was aggravated at him. It also served as the marker where Bee would transform to his alt form and they would race back home for dinner.

Mikaela stood near the cave entrance and watched Bumblebee transform. Strange, there usually was not such a powerful rumble associated with the change. Maybe he should see Ratchet.

She figured out just in time that the sound was not coming from Bumblebee, but rather the cave behind her. Acting on impulse she threw herself away from the entrance and rolled once before pushing her upper body up to see.

Bee had reversed his transformation and now stood in a ready crouch in front of her. Between his legs Mikaela could see a Renault Clio II with a green paint job that reminded her of a dried out cactus. She did not recognize it, judging by Bee's stance he did not either.

A familiar three beat lick predicted the other car's transformation from four wheels to two legs. Mikaela still did not recognize him until he drew his weapon.

"Barricade."

"Ladybug." Mikaela was actually surprised Bee did not react to that one.

"What are you doing here?" Bumblebee asked.

Barricade just chuckled and Mikaela watched the spinning gears and tires on Bee stop as he tensed.

"Just conducting an experiment."

The Clio launched himself not at the Camaro, but rather around him in an attempt to get to Mikaela. She screamed in fright, but Bumblebee knocked the Decepticon to the ground and landed on his back, pinning him.

"What do you want with Mikaela?" he snarled.

Barricade just chuckled. There was the sound of metal on metal and the ground trembled. Mikaela guessed the 'Con had gotten free, but she was not going to risk turning around to check. As soon as Bee had had the other pinned, she took off for the other side of the rock formation. Running to the base would be stupid; there was no cover for her to hide under. Barricade would have a clear shot.

There was a squeal of pain as Bumblebee was thrown into the pile of rock, the force of the impact enough to send it toppling. Mikaela pressed herself as close to the rock behind her as possible. The other rocks should not land that close to the formation's base; it was much safer to stay still than risk getting squashed or shot.

Without warning she was snatched up by a pair of large metal hands. The scream rising up in her throat died when she realized it was only Bumblebee sheltering her from the boulders. He held her cupped to his chest as he went into a roll, making Mikaela dizzy. Bee landed in a crouch, facing a grinning Barricade.

"Are you okay Mikaela?" he asked without looking down.

"Y-yeah," her voice shook and chastised herself. She had not been this frightened in Mission City, what was the difference? Oh yeah, she had not been a target back then, or amongst the frontline fighting. How in the world had Sam managed to keep the Cube from Megatron?

"Not bad, fleshling," the Decepticon said, "but it doesn't answer my question."

"Which is?" Bee asked in a cold tone.

"Can human females scream louder than males?"

The moment of shock-surprise that followed allowed Barricade to activate his cannons and send a few shots toward the Autobot.

"Shit!" Mikaela screeched and curled up into a fetal position in Bee's hands. The yellow mech turned and took the blast in his back, the forcing sending him to his knees. Mikaela was dropped from his hands as he used them to catch himself. Thankfully, the fall was not more than three feet.

"Bee! Bee, are you alright?!" Sparks were coming from his back and a iridescent purple fluid was dripping into the earth.

"I'm fine," the mech stood up and turned around to face Barricade. Mikaela could see wriggling cables through the hole in Bumblebee's amour, but the scout did not seem effected. "What are you playing at?"

The Decepticon just laughed. "Really, I thought scouts were supposed to excel in knowledge gathering. I simply just want to know if she screams louder than he did."

"What are you talking about?" Bumblebee asked, but Mikaela felt an answer slowly bubbling up to the front of her mind. It came from her stomach and made her feel sick. Before she knew what it was Barricade opened a sound recording and played it.

A loud scream filled the air, a sound saturated with long lasting pain and desperation. It ended when the person screaming simply no longer had the air or strength left to continue. "Please, just (cough cough) get it over with. (spit) Kill me already."

The voice was hoarse with misuse and the tired, forlorn acceptance of the inevitable made Mikaela's heart clench in pain. What made her body numb and caused her to collapse to her knees was recognizing the voice.

Bumblebee gave a despairing cry and launched himself at the other mech, forgetting to activate his cannons and landing a punch on the side of the Decepticon's face. Barricade stumbled back, growled, and returned the attack.

She could not see the rest of the battle clearly, everything was blurry and Barricade's new color scheme made it hard for her to tell the two fighters apart. She felt the ground shake as the two battled, heard noises of triumph and pain. But she only paid them half a mind, instead playing over and over again in her mind the scream and death plea. It sickened her, but she wondered if the recording had been amplified and if she could scream louder. It was an answer she did not want to know.

"Mikaela! Mikaela! Dang it Mikaela, answer me! What happened?"

She blinked and the world seemed to come back in focus. Ironhide and Optimus were holding onto a twisting Bumblebee, striving toward the Cybertronian he had been fighting. The yellow mech had taken another shot to his arm, the outer amour burned away to the structural support underneath. Barricade was lying on his back, not moving and lacking an arm and a foot, Ratchet crouched over the mech.

"Mikaela!" She became aware of the tight grip of someone grasping her shoulders and her eyes focused on a worried Captian Lennox.

"Mikaela," he spoke slowly, in a calm voice. "What happened?"

"He killed Sam."

* * *

**A/N:**

1)I know Kennie is an odd name for an aunt. Her name's really Mackenzie, but she's always been a tom-boy. She's captain of the local women's rugby team.

2) Barricade's new alt? A popular car in Mexico.

I came up with this idea while sitting through boring movies for my avant-garde class. My sis, dragonqueengold, kept bugging me to add this and that and before you know it this thing is born after taking up two days of my life.

Since November is National Novel Writing Month, I have a goal of 50,000 words this month. If there's anything you want to me to work on in particulur, nows the time to ask. Or answer the pole on my profile. That being said, don't expect a lot of updates this month, but excpet a whole lot come December. ^_~


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